In the pioneer age of recording (when
there were no permanent masters), record companies
maintained their catalogues by having artists routinely
return to the studio to re-record their popular numbers.
When the original performer was not available or had
died, the piece might be assigned to a different artist,
while the original catalogue number was preserved. "Dill
Pickles Rag" was first arranged and recorded on
xylophone by Chris Chapman in 1908 for Victor 5560,
and the selection was reissued on double-sided Victor
16678-B. Later this recording was replaced in the Victor
catalogue with a re-make by William H. Reitz. In addition
to his solo work, Reitz played with Fred Van Eps, the
Victor Dance Orchestra, Vess Ossman, Arthur Pryor's
Band, the U.S. Marine Band, and the High Hatters, in
a career spanning 1911-1928.
This recording by Reitz
was on Archeophone's first edition of Real
Ragtime but
now, on the second edition, the original
recording by Chris Chapman [sample 
] substitutes
for the later one by Reitz. General opinion is that
Chapman's is the superior and more popular version,
but Reitz's is certainly the rarer. Here is Reitz's "Dill
Pickles Rag" as it appeared on the first edition
of Real
Ragtime, pitched too fast and with some loss
of fidelity.
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